Securing U.S. government support can be a windfall for any organization looking to further its mission or expand its programmatic reach. For organizations working outside the U.S., partnering with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) can no doubt help them accomplish their goals, but newbies to USAID may find approaching such a large and complex agency to be daunting. That is why USAID has put together a host of resources to help simplify this process.
Let’s have a closer look at what the agency does, what types of support it offers, how to research and prepare to apply for opportunities, and where to locate the aforementioned resources to help along the way.
USAID Overview
USAID’s goals are manifold. It’s mission is to “[lead] the U.S. Government's international development and disaster assistance through partnerships and investments that save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help people emerge from humanitarian crises and progress beyond assistance.”
With an annual budget of around $60 billion allocated by the U.S. Congress each year, USAID works in selected developing countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East. The agency’s priority areas include, but are not limited to, agriculture, economic growth, environment, education, democracy, governance, health, human rights, women’s empowerment, and water and sanitation.
USAID works with partners based both inside and outside the U.S., including non-governmental and nonprofit organizations, community and faith-based organizations, higher education institutions, and for-profit companies. The Organizations That Work With USAID webpage takes a deeper dive into the types of organizations that the agency works with.
Researching Priority Areas
If you are thinking about approaching USAID for assistance, it’s a good idea to get an overview of the agency’s specific priority areas in the country where your organization is planning to work.
The agency primarily carries out its work through USAID Missions and Offices which establish the strategies and specific program areas for each country, based on local needs, and publish them on the corresponding Mission website. Therefore, the first step in this research process is to visit the specific Mission page for your country, which may be accessed via the Mission Directory. Each Mission page typically contains an overview and history of USAID’s work in that country, details on the program areas, and updates on recent USAID activity there. GrantStation Members can access the profile for their respective country Mission by visiting the International Charitable database and typing in the keywords “USAID” and the country name, for example, “USAID Guatemala”.
In addition, the Country Development Cooperation Strategies page of the USAID website provides links to downloadable strategy documents for each country where USAID works.
To see what types of projects USAID is supporting in your region, you can also view this interactive USAID map featuring stories, photos, and videos of USAID-funded initiatives.
For a broader overview of USAID’s strategic direction, you can review USAID’s Strategy and Planning page to access the latest strategic plans on both the global and regional levels. Information on priorities for the current year is available in the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request.
Three Types of Support
Once you have a general idea of the priority areas in your specific country or region, it’s time to determine what type of support to seek for your organization.
Many assume that USAID is primarily a grant-giving agency, but in fact USAID offers three main types of support—grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts—most of which are awarded on a competitive basis. Grants are the most hands-off type of support, and they are awarded to a grantee to carry out a program without much direct involvement by USAID. Through cooperative agreements, USAID awards funding to partner agencies while maintaining limited involvement with the partner throughout the course of the funded program. Finally, through contracts, which involve a higher level of oversight, USAID “purchases technical assistance services, goods, products, or other services from a responsible party to implement a project as directed by the Agency.” Put another way, contracts are acquisition awards, whereas grants and cooperative agreements are assistance awards.
For more information on the different types of support offered by USAID, view the training module “How to Work with USAID: Understanding USAID Awards”.
Requirements for Accessing USAID Support
Whether seeking support in the form of grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts, organizations based in the U.S. and abroad must first complete several different registrations and obtain the accompanying codes. These registrations may include the Unique Entity ID, or UEI, which replaces the previous DUNS number; the System for Award Management (SAM); the Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, for U.S.-based organizations; and the NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) code, for non U.S.-based organizations.
It is free to register for these codes, however, it can take some time, so it is recommended to start the registration process well ahead of any application deadlines.
For further guidance in this area, USAID has put together a helpful resource called “Registering to Work With USAID: Main Step-by-Step Guide”, which includes links to how-to videos to simplify this process.
How to Locate Specific Opportunities
Where can you learn about current and upcoming opportunities?
Current opportunities are posted on the Grants.gov and SAM.gov websites. Those looking for information on grants and cooperative agreements should visit the Search Grants section of the Grants.gov website and filter for USAID opportunities by clicking on the “All Agency for International Development [USAID]” click box under “Agency” on the left, or the specific country Mission under the dropdown menu below. If you know what type of funding you are looking for, you can narrow down the results by clicking on either “Grant” or “Cooperative Agreement” on the dropdown menu under "Funding Instrument Type." Once you have applied the necessary filters, opportunities can be sorted by posted date and close date.
For a more user-friendly interface, GrantStation Members can access the Grants.gov powered U.S. Federal database.
SAM.gov enables users to search for contract opportunities from USAID and other agencies. On the Contract Opportunities page of this site, users can click on “Advanced Search” above the “Search Contract Opportunities” box in order to narrow down the results by specific criteria. Those looking for USAID contract opportunities can go to the “Federal Organizations” section on the left and select “072 – Agency for International Development” from the dropdown menu.
In addition to Grants.gov and SAM.gov, which only list current opportunities, USAID’s Business Forecast publishes information on upcoming funding opportunities, including program descriptions, the amount of allocated funding, the anticipated solicitation release date, and who to contact for more information. Every quarter, USAID also hosts a Business Forecast webinar.
Resources to Help Organizations New to the USAID Ecosystem
The above information represents the tip of the iceberg in terms of approaching USAID for support. Luckily, in recent years, the agency has made a concerted effort to educate organizations that haven’t previously worked with USAID. In 2019, USAID rolled out the New Partnerships Initiative (NPI) to help expand the agency’s reach to new, local, and nontraditional partners. NPI has developed a number of resources to aid organizations in their journey to seeking USAID support.
Here are a few resources available through the NPI as well as the USAID website:
How to Work With USAID
This webpage provides a helpful overview of how to work with the agency.
WorkwithUSAID.org
This website is billed as a “resource hub designed for new, current, and future local and international partners to navigate how to work with USAID”. Users that are new to the site should start on the “Are you ready to work with USAID?” page, which will help them determine whether their organization is eligible to work with USAID, understand how to connect to the USAID partner ecosystem, and get started on searching for funding.
Those accessing the site can also search the partner directory, browse the library of resources and tools for organizational capacity building, and learn about upcoming events and funding opportunities. In addition, the blog lists funding opportunities with upcoming deadlines for that month, and features articles of interest to potential USAID partners.
Training Series on How to Work With USAID
This series of 12 video training modules helps organizations understand USAID processes and requirements. The modules cover a wide range of topics, from researching and responding to opportunities, to drafting budgets, to post-award reporting and evaluation, and more.
YouTube Videos
This series of animated YouTube videos use a cooking theme to present “recipes for partnership success”. They explain key terms and concepts, how to register with USAID, and how to brand USAID-funded projects.
Grant and Contract Process
This webpage provides a simple explanation of the steps USAID takes when designing and awarding grants and contracts.
Unsolicited Proposals and Grant Applications
Organizations interested in submitting an unsolicited proposal or application can learn more about the process on this webpage. It provides information on the eligibility criteria, what information to include, and how to submit an unsolicited proposal or application.
Resources for Partners
Anything not covered on the list above is likely to appear on this page.